Entrepreneur turns hanok into hipster guesthouse

By Kim Hyo-jin

Bae Kook-jin, a 32-year-old entrepreneur, got his guesthouse Sopoong into the highest rankings of travel review site TripAdvisor just about a year after its opening in 2012.

Ironically, he is dubious of the worth of such a listing.

“It’s merely a matter of feelings,” Bae told The Korea Times. “The rank is off my head. I just wish to offer top-quality accommodations for my guests.”

His property is an eye-catching traditional Korean house, or hanok, located in a corner of the traditional but hip Seoul neighborhood of Seochon.

And he has not spent a penny on promotion. Fame followed naturally through word of mouth.

“I would rather invest money in practical values than in empty formalities and vanity,” he said.

The owner’s philosophy is clearly reflected in the interior and equipment of the place.

He picked the best-quality wood to build the house, painted the walls with diatomite believed to alleviate atopic dermatitis, furnished it with a fashionable Smeg fridge, Apple PC, and brand name washer, TV and air conditioners.

Guests could feel disoriented with all the trappings of a modern dream home inside the old-fashioned house.

The young entrepreneur said ambitiously that he is chasing two goals at once.

“Sopoong seeks to minimize the level of inconvenience and maximize the beauty of a rare experience,” Bae said, noting that the hanok, despite its characteristic ambiance, could fail to provide some guests with a proper level of comfort, with no beds and relatively low room temperatures.

He dispelled such worries with an air-circulating heater installed in the ceiling and memory foam floor mattresses with high thermal conductivity. Many foreign guests have asked him about the mattress, hoping to get one on the way back to their home countries.

Bae says he doesn’t view his guesthouse as a simple accommodation business. He aims to make it into a culture-centered space.

He regularly holds house concerts in his courtyard with bands varying from indie to hip-hop. Once he invited a Korean food researcher who demonstrated how to make kimchi, providing his guests with a chance to learn how to prepare the indigenous side-dish. This year, he plans to have artists perform or exhibit their pieces at his place.

“I believe space can elevate its potential when it is filled with culture,” he stressed.

Bae, once an office worker, jumped into the startup industry with a vague idea that he would found a business he can enjoy.

He recalled himself as a passionate host of his friends for the past 12 years. Not only while studying in the U.S. and New Zealand in his 20s, but also after coming back home, he loved having people over to his place and going on a tour together.

“Sometimes it’s confusing if I’m just hanging or working,” Bae said with a shy smile.

“If you have a bit of confidence and know how to enjoy doing it, then it’s the thing to pursue. Money follows automatically in the process,” he noted when asked for advice for startup hopefuls.

The ambitious entrepreneur expanded his business to run a local share house in northwestern Seoul and to support a franchise of the guesthouse in up-and-coming Yeonnam-dong. They, of course, have his signature, tech-savvy and stylish interiors, not to mention a full schedule of cultural events.

“A startup should not be your career but a part of the way you live your life,” Bae said.